How To Cook The Perfect Steak

Firstly, choose your steak.

Most people opt for fillet, the most tender and expensive of steaks, but in my opinion, fillet can be a little tasteless. Sirloin and Rib-eye steaks are a little less tender than fillet, but if these steaks have been dry-aged, they’ll be tender enough. Together with their fat cover and marbling, it makes them much tastier, as confirmed by my wife, Louise, (they’re her favourites!).

Rump steak is the least expensive of the ‘frying cuts’ but I find they’ve the most flavour; again, the 21-day dry-ageing process ensures the succulence.

The most romantic of steaks is the “cote de boeuf”. This is basically a double rib-eye on the bone served rare - with Béarnaise sauce, it’s the ideal choice for Valentine’s night.

Cooking:

Make sure your steak is at room temperature, then get your pan red hot. Immediately prior to cooking, lightly oil your steak with rapeseed oil (this has a higher flash point) and season well.

Place your steak flat in your pan and cook on full heat for 2 minutes, (for a steak that’s about ¾” thick). You don’t need to move the steak about, just leave it, then after 2 minutes remove the steak from the pan altogether. Give the pan time to get back to full heat then deliver the steak back to the pan - on its uncooked side - for a further 2 minutes. Remove again and place it to rest on a warm plate for at least 4 minutes, giving you enough time to make the sauce.

Deglaze your pan with brandy or whisky. Let it cool a little then add a good knob of butter, some cream and green peppercorns. Warm this, and also stir in any juices from your resting steak.

Pour a little of your sauce over the steak, serve with chunky homemade oven chips and rocket salad and the best red wine you can find.

….and voilà!

Your steak should be rare, or at the very outside, medium rare; cooked any further than that and you will have ruined a good steak!

*For the cote de boeuf, cook the same way - 2 minutes each side - but then place in a red-hot oven for 10 minutes. Rest it for another 10 minutes while you make your Béarnaise sauce. Carve the meat at an angle so you can share it with your Valentine. (They always say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach….)